properly · verb — imperfect active indicative, 3rd person plural
him
αὐτῷ·autō
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative singular masculine
How
πῶςpōs
G4459
an interrogative particle of manner · particle — interrogative
were
ἠνεῴχθησάνēneōchthēsan
G455
to open up (literally or figuratively · verb — aorist passive indicative, 3rd person plural
thine
σοῦsoû
G4675
of thee
eyes
ὀφθαλμοί;ophthalmoi
G3788
the eye (literally or figuratively) · noun — nominative plural masculine
opened
ἀνοίγωanoígō
G455
to open up (literally or figuratively
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Ecclesiastes 11:5 As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not…
Mark 4:27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.
John 3:9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?
John 9:15 Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do s…
John 9:21 But by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not: he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself.
John 9:26 Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes?
1 Corinthians 15:35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on John 9:8-12
Such a wonderful event as the giving of sight to a man born blind could not but be the talk of the town, and many heeded it no more than they do other town-talk, that is but nine days' wonder; but here we are told what the neighbours said of it, for the confirmation of the matter of fact. That which at first was not believed without scrutiny may afterwards be admitted without scruple. Two things are debated in this conference about it: -
I. Whether this was the same man that had before been blind, Joh 9:8.
1. The neighbours that lived near the place where he was born and bred, and knew that he had been blind, could not but be amazed when they saw that he had his eye-sight, had it on a sudde…
The neighbours therefore . . . said, Is not this he that sat and begged--Here are a number of details to identify the newly seeing with the long-known blind beggar.
Adam Clarke on John 9:9
Some said, This is he - This miracle was not wrought in private - nor before a few persons - nor was it lightly credited. Those who knew him before were divided in their opinion concerning him: not whether the man who sat there begging was blind before - for this was known to all; nor, whether the person now before them saw clearly - for this was now notorious; but whether this was the person who was born blind, and who used in a particular place to sit begging.
Others said, He is like him - This was very natural: for certainly the restoration of his sight must have given him a very different appearance to what he had before.
John Gill on John 9:10
Therefore said they unto him,.... When the case was clear, and it was out of question that he was the man:
how were thine eyes opened? or made to see: they might well ask this question, since such a thing was never known before, that one born blind received his sight; and as great a miracle it is in grace, and as great a mystery to a natural man, how one should be born again, or be spiritually enlightened.
The Church Fathers
"Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened? He answered, The man who is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and saw." See, he is become the herald of grace; see, he preaches the gospel; endowed with sight, he becomes a confessor. That blind man makes confession, and the heart of the wicked was troubled; for they had not in their heart what he had now in his countenance.
Those who could see were clearly being drawn to the blind man, who saw inwardly. The blind man was being drawn secretly to those who could see but who were blind inwardly. He [the blind man] washed away the clay from his eyes and appeared to himself. They washed the blindness from their hearts and gained approval for themselves. When our Lord opened up the eyes of one blind man clearly in that moment, he opened up [the eyes of] many blind people secretly. For that blind man was [surely] blind. He was like a source of profit for our Lord, for by him our Lord acquired many blind people [by healing them] from the blindness of their heart.
"They said unto him, How were thine eyes opened? He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus." What sayest thou? Doth "a man" work such deeds? As yet he knew nothing great concerning Him. "A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes." Observe how truthful he is. He saith not whence He made it, for he speaks not of what he doth not know; he saw not that He spat on the ground, but that He spread it on he knew from sense and touch. "And said unto me, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam." This too his hearing witnessed to him. But how did he recognize His voice? From His conversation with the disciples. And saying all this, and having received the witness by the works, the manner (of the cure) he cannot tell. Now if faith is needed in matters which are felt and handled, much more in the case of things invisible.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Sabbath — (Heb. verb shabbath, meaning “to rest from labour”), the day of rest. It is first mentioned as having been instituted in Paradise, when man was in innocence (Gen. 2:2). “The sabbath was made for…
Siloam, Pool of — Sent or sending. Here a notable miracle was wrought by our Lord in giving sight to the blind (John 9:7-11). It has been identified with the Birket Silwan in the lower Tyropoeon valley, to the…
Siloam · Jesus directs the blind man whom he had healed to wash in — Jesus directs the blind man whom he had healed to wash in
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Calvin on John 9:6-12
John 9:6-12
6. Having said this, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and anointed the eyes of the blind man with the day, 7. And said to him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, which, being interpreted, means Sent. He went, therefore, and washed, and came seeing. 8. Then the neighbors, and they who had formerly seen him, and that he was a beggar, said, Is not this he who sat and begged? 9. Some said, This is he. And others, He is like him. But he said, I am Hebrews 10. They said, therefore, to him, How were thine eyes opened? 11. He answered and said, A man, who is called Jesus, made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said to me, Go into the pool of Siloam, and wash; and after…
Siloam, a pool at the south end of the city of Jerusalem, was the source of water for the ceremonies at the Festival of Shelters. • Siloam means “sent”: This phrase contained a double meaning: Jesus, who has been sent by God (4:34; 5:23, 37; 7:28; 8:26; 12:44; 14:24), told the blind man to wash in the pool called “sent.”
